Madoff Trustee's $6B More To Compensate Victims a Step Closer

Madoff trustee Irving Picard, a New York attorney whose clients formerly owned some 1,080 accounts with the disgraced financier, is on the brink or recouping nearly $6 billion of their stolen money should a federal bankruptcy judge approve his latest request made on Tuesday.

The payout, if granted, would amount to $349 million going to the Bernie Madoff fraud victims he represents, which Picard says would increase his total recouped funds for the victims to just over $5.9 billion, Reuters reported. The bulk of the latest payout would come from a $325 million settlement of claims filed by Picard against JPMorgan Chase & Co., which was once Madoff's main bank. Payments would reportedly range from $496 to $77.3 million.

"Our commitment is simple: to recover the maximum amount of funds stolen in the Madoff Ponzi scheme and to distribute these funds to their rightful owners as quickly as possible," Picard said in a statement.

The nearly $9.8 billion recovered for clients amounts to approximately 56 cents on the dollar of actual losses, Picard adds, considering the attorney estimates the disgraced financier had some $17.5 billion invested with him.

On Friday, Picard billed his clients for $39.3 million on behalf of his firm, which consists of some 200-plus attorneys.